The picture above is from this past August. It was the day of Mackenzie's last Speech Therapy session (a week prior to this she had her last Physical Therapy session).
Mackenzie started the whole therapy process around 15 months old. She was evaluated in our local Early Intervention program and at 18 months old she began Physical Therapy along with seeing a Vision Specialist. Shortly after, she began Occupational Therapy which was followed by Speech Therapy all by the time she was 21 months old. We had each therapist/specialist come into our home anywhere from once a week to 3 times a week. Mack aged out of Early Intervention when she turned 3 and we decided to keep her in the private church preschool (with a local college student accompanying her as an aide) instead of transitioning her into the special ed classroom in our local county's public school. We continued doing Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy (but doing it as outpatient) so we spent from age 3 till almost 5 1/2 years old driving too and from therapies and preschool (plus all of the other activities- dance, swim, horseback riding, etc). Then at the beginning of last summer (2015), right after Mackenzie graduated preschool, Mackenzie's speech therapist told us that she would be retiring. And that's when we decided to maybe just call it quits for therapies in general. We were exhausted mentally and physically. We loved the care the therapists gave Mackenzie and the support they gave me and BJ, but I was ready to just give Mackenzie (and myself) a much needed break.
Now to backtrack a little to bring in the school aspect.....we did have Mackenzie evaluated by our local public school when she was about to turn 4 years old. At this time I was still very unsure about what the future held after preschool (which Mackenzie only attended 2 days a week from 9-12). And despite a lot of encouragement to homeschool from my mom and sister, I still didn't want to take that leap (my brother currently teaches and my sister taught until she became a mom and now homeschools. I, on the other hand, always said I would never be a teacher- that was their calling, not mine. Well, I've learned to never say never!). We weren't necessarily pleased with what our public school was going to be able to offer so I finally gave in to what I knew God was telling me to do and said that I'll start taking that leap.
May 2015 rolled around and Mackenzie graduated from the preschool she had attended since she was almost 3 years old.
And that's when I think reality set in- I was really going to have to start this homeschool journey soon. I spoke with 2 other moms from Mack's preschool class who were going to homeschool and they mentioned that they were going to join a Classical Conversations group (which I was already familiar with). I had already decided I wasn't going to join any homeschool community this first year but, yet again, I felt the need to look into this more. So the short version is that I did research it and we joined a local CC group (which ended up being a very good decision!).
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| Mack's first day of CC- August 2015 |
As I've stated before in a previous post, each week at CC the kids get up to do a presentation. Mackenzie needed me by her side the first several weeks but then started doing the presentations on her own.
Mackenzie really enjoyed the science and art aspect of CC. Below is a picture of her dissecting a crawfish (I love that she had so many fun experiences at only 5/6 years old!)
I'm not going to lie, this past year has held its share of struggles. I overwhelmed myself with thinking I needed to research every aspect of homeschool to find what out what will work best for Mackenzie. I started comparing her to what I thought a child her age should know. Then it finally hit me (after hearing nonstop from many close friends and family) that the reason for homeschooling is because we can work at our own pace. We can focus on certain areas necessary then totally switch gears when needed and focus on other areas. We can do what is best for Mackenzie.
Just like we did when we felt led to end therapies. We knew it was the best choice at that time for Mackenzie. Will we start therapies again in the future? Possibly? If we feel it is the best choice to do so, then we definitely will. But right now I know we are doing what we feel is best for our precious child. And what is best for our child isn't what's going to be in the best interest for another child. And I'm so thankful I finally have realized (now let's just hope I continue with this mindset!:)) that we need to focus on just Mackenzie and who she is. She is the most unique child I know. She doesn't fit in with any particular group. And I have grown to really love that. Mackenzie and I are embracing the challenges that we face and are learning to have fun with it.
So what has the outcome been with ending therapies and starting this homechooling journey? I have seen Mack grow in incredible ways since last August. I have seen her confidence grow- she is little miss social, and she has shown me that we will accomplish all that is ahead of us just by being patient. Just in the past month I have had numerous people comment on Mackenzie's physical abilities- she's all over the place! Homeschooling has allowed her the opportunity to not have to sit still. She's able to continue to work her muscles and strengthen her body. She has been able to focus on the extra activities without letting therapies get in the way. She has improved so much in dance class. She started piano lessons in February and has floored us with how well she's catching on. And she's been able to have so much fun time with friends. I know I need to not dwell much on past decisions, but I do regret that times that I canceled a playdate because Mackenzie had to fit in a therapy session. Just yesterday I had 2 friends over and there was a total of 8 children in our home. I watched Mackenzie play with her friends and enjoyed watching her interact so well with her peers.
Mackenzie's been able to just be a kid. Therapies are beneficial. School is beneficial. But Mackenzie needed to experience the laid back life and since 18 months old she had been in therapies sometimes up to 3 times a week. We wouldn't be where we are right now had it not been for the therapies. And again, we may decide to start them back up in the future. But I could tell that Mackenzie was ready for a break. And I needed a step back from being so busy (don't get me wrong- we are still VERY busy! but just a different kind of busy- a little more relaxed kind of busy).
Below is a picture/status that I posted on my FB a few weeks ago.
"We survived our first year of homeschooling! We had our final program today for our Classical Conversation homeschool group and I was so proud to watch Mack get in front with her friends and recite the work they've learned. I started this journey very unsure if we could do this. And have had some struggles along the way. But God surrounded us with a supportive and encouraging CC group and reconnected me with longtime friends who are also homeschooling making this journey so much more doable. So thankful and excited to continue this journey with Mack."
And I am so thankful that I am excited about what's to come. I don't know if we will always be a homeschool family, but I know that this is the journey God wants us to be on right now.
So to end- thank you to those of you who have given our family so much support especially over this past year. I have shared so many struggles (and tears) with close friends and family. I'm thankful to each one of you for your endless encouragement, love, and prayers. It means a lot to us. I'm incredibly thankful to be able to parent a child as special and unique as Mackenzie.
